Automobile engine-hood support



G. P. LACHER. AUTOMOBILE ENGI-NE. H000 SUPPORT- FILED JUNE I3. 1921.

Dec. 19, 1922. 1,439,474

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euroiiiosrnis Enema-noon sorronr.

Application filed June 13,

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that; I, Gnonen P. Lacuna, citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, Illinois, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in an Automobile Engine-Hood clupport; and I do hereby do clare the following; to be a; full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled'in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates tomeans for use with either one or both sides of the hood employed for covering anautomobile engine, its general object being that oi providing simple, inexpensive and easily attached means which will afford a positive, and safe means for holding either one or both sides of such a hood in the opened position. Furthermore, my invention aims to provide an appliance for this general purpose which can readily be attachedto an-ordinary automobile, which will not interfere with the normal closing ofthe hood, and which can readily be adjusted to fit different makes and types of automobiles. a

In automobile practice, it is customary to cover the engine with a sheet metal hood, which. hood is usually constructed of hinge jointed sections arranged symmetrically with respect to the longitudinal center line oi the vehicle. In making adjustments to the engine mechanism, or when inspecting the same, it is customary to raise one lateral. half of the hood out of its normal closure position and usually the raised half can be swung up over the top of the other half so as to be safely supported for this purpose. However, it is often desirable to have both sides of the hood. opened atone and the same time, both for convenience in access to the engine mechanism and for aiiordingan.ad equa to lighting ot the various. parts. W hen this is done, the slope or curvature oi. the top portions oi the hood usually [)I'GVGHiLStl'IGSG from being held withany firmness in tl u" raised positioinso that jarring is apt; to. re lease one or both oi the hood halves and to cause these to. slam down substantially into their normal positions. Such a sudden closing of either side otthe hood is-apt to injure any one who is inspectingor adjusting the engine mechanism, and is, also apt to. scratch or otherwise damage portions 01 the hood. My invention aims to guard against. such accidents by providingv simple, readily attached and easily operated means for sup- 1921. Serial No. 477,339..

porting either one or both halves of the hood securely in the opened position. also aims to provide a construction for this purpose which can easily be adjusted according to the requirements of various sizes and types of automobiles, which will not be in the way of the hood when the latter is to be closed, and which can readily be secured in operative position without any machining on the automobile and with the aid of such when. adjusted for supporting both halves of the hood. p

Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of my appliance when adjusted as in Fig. 1. Jig. 4 is a plan view of another embodiinentot my invention, namely one in which a relatively short clamping member- .is used for securing the main member of the appli ance to the radiator rod,'and -in winch. an

outward tilting of each adjustable arm of the appliance is limited by the engagement of the arm with an, adjacent twist in the said main member. v I

In automobilepractice, it iscustomary to mount a radiator 1 forwardly of the engine proper and to support the; upper portion of this radiator by means of ago-called radiator rod 2 whichv extends" horizontally along the axisof the vehicle from the radiator to the dashboard at some distance above the en gine. This radiator rod 2 is usually in vertical, al-ineinent withthe central hinge oi": the hood used for normally covering the entire engine, and such a hood generally consists oi." two halves symmetrically osed with. res met to the said central hinee c opened, the hingedly connected parts i and of the same swing with respect to each other after the manner of the closing of a jacklrnife (as shown in Fig. 1) and the free edge of the-sideportion 5 rests upon the hood ends 15. Owing to the curvature-or slope of the hood ends, these do not afford iirm supports for the raised hood portions as the engaged edge of the hood is apt toslide along the hood end 15. i

To avoid this after the manner of my invention, I mount on the usual radiator rod 2 a supporting member extending transversely of this rod and disposed entirely below the top of the hood. Then I equip each end of this supporting member with means adapted to be moved into position. for extending above the top of the stationary hood ends at a point laterally spaced from the central hinge of the hood, so as to form a guard for preventinga late-rally outward movement of the opened hood.

For example, Figs. 1, 2 and 3 show an embodiment in which the supporting member of my appliance consists of two counterpart portions 6 and 7, each of which comprises a flat steel bar formed flatwise near its inner end to a V-shape andequipped at opposite sides of the said V-shaped formation with perforations. The said V-shaped formations 8 cooperate in afi'ording the opposed halves of a clamp which grips the radiator rod 2 and which can be tightened uponthe latter by means of bolts 9 extending through the said perforations.

Near each outer end of the parts 6 and 7, I provide each of these parts with a single perforation for receiving the shank of a bolt 10, which bolt shank extends slidably through a longitudinal slot in a guard arm 11. The bolt 10 desirably is tightened by means of a wing nut 12 and I desirably provide a Washer 13 between each such wing nut and the adjacent slotted arm 11. Thus arranged, it will readily be seenfrom the left hand portion of Fig. 1 that upon loosening. the wing nut 12, the adjacent slotted arm 11 can readily be dropped so that it will be entirely clear of the adjacent hood portion when the hood is closed. Likewise, the right hand portion of Fig. shows how the slotted guard arm ll can he slid u 'mumls and then clamped in position by means of the bolt 10 and the wing nut12 so as to afford a guard for preventing the hood side from sliding laterally outward along the stationary hood part 15 which supports the hood side when raised. To prevent the re sulting lateral thrust on the supported hood side 5 from tending to rock the guard arm 11 too much about its substantially pivotal connection to the supporting member through the adjacent bolt'lO, I desirably provide the supporting member with means for limiting such a pivotal movement. For

this purpose, I am here showing each portion of the supporting member as equipped at its extreme outer end with a finger 14 extending parallel to the axis of the adjacent bolt 10 and adapted to engage an edge of the adj acent arm. 11 after the manner shown in Fig. 2 so as to limit the outward tilting of the said arm.

WVith the parts thus arranged, it will be obvious from the above description that the appliance of my invention can readily be attached to the usual radiator rod 2 of an automobile without requiring any machining; that the slotted guard arms 11 can readily be raised to such heights as may seem necessary in connection with various shapes and sizes of hoods, and with different spacings of the radiator rods from the hood tops; also, thatthese arms can instantly be dropped out of the way and that they can be secured against rattling by a tightening of the bolts associated with the same when the hood is to be closed. Moreover, it will be evident that I accomplish my purposes without having any portion of the hood engaged by screws or clamps such as might injure the finish or otherwise damage the hood, and Without having any parts normally exposed where they would mar the appearance of the automobile.

' However, while I have heretofore described my invention in a highly desirable embodiment, I do not wish to be limited to the details of the construction and arrangement thus disclosed, it being obvious that the same might be modified in many ways without departing from the spirit of my invention or from the appended claims. For example, instead of constructing the main supporting member of my appliance of two counterpart portions 6 and 7, I may employ a considerably longer single bar 17 after the manner of Fig. 4e and may connect both of the guard arms 11 to the latter, in which case a relatively short companion clamping member 16 serves for securing the device to the radiator rod. So also, instead of employing twists in the supporting member adjacent to the central clamping, I may form twists adjacent to the free ends of this supporting bar after the manner shown in Fig. 4;, and may "then. use the engagement of the guard arms 11 with the adjacent twists 'as the means for limiting the outward tilting of the guard arms.

Iclaim as my invention 1. The combination with the radiator rod of an automobile having ahinge-jointed hood, of a bar secured to and extending transversely of the said rod'and normally disposed within the hood, and stop arm adjustably mounted on the end of the said bar and adapted in a raised position to engage a free edgeof a raised hood side.

2. The combination with the radiator rod ofan automobile having a hinge-jointed hood oi. a rigid bar secured to the said rod and extending transversely of the said rod below the top of the hood, stop arm pivoted to the end of the rod, and means associate-d with the pivotal connection for rigidly clamping the arm in position for engaging a free edge of the opened hood.

3. The combination with the radiator rod of an automobile having a hinge jointed hood comprising two sections symmetrically disposed with respect to a vertical plane through the radiator rod, of a rigid bar clamped to and extending transversely of the radiator rod, and independently adjustable guard means respectively mounted on the ends of the said bar and movable so as to project above the hood ends and each adapted to engage an edge portion of one opened hood section.

4. The combination with the radiator rod of an automobile having a'hinge-jointed hood, of a bar secured to andextending transversely of the said rod and normally disposed within the hood and a slotted stop arm pivoted on one end of the said bar by a clamping bolt extending through the slot in the arm and adapted in raised position to engage a free edge of a raised hood side.

5. The combination with the radiator rod of an automobile having a hinge-jointedhood comprising sections symmetrically disposed with respect to a vertical plane through the radiator rod of the engine, of a rigid hood-supporting bar clamped to and extending transversely of the radiator rod, and a pairof rigid guard arms respectively mounted on the ends of the said bar, the said bar being disposed below the top-of the hood and each of the guard arms being movable with respect to the said bar from a position below the top of the hood to one in which it extends above the normal position occupied by the top of the hood.

GEORGE P. LACHER.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, June 11th,. 

